Ryan Strome, Griffin Reinhart and Ville Pokka will play in the 10-team tournament beginning later this month in Ufa, Russia

Three Islanders Selected To Represent Their Country At 2013 U-20 World Junior Championshipfalse

The 2013 World Junior Championship will mark the fifth time Islanders prospect Ville Pokka has represented his native Finland in international competition (Photo: Getty Images)

Islanders prospects Ryan Strome and Griffin Reinhart have been selected to represent Team Canada at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia, while Ville Pokka has made the final cut for Team Finland.

The tournament, which runs from Dec. 26 – Jan. 5, will be the first for Reinhart, who has represented Canada twice in international competition, including the 2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. This will be Strome’s second appearance at the World Juniors. The center scored three goals and six assists in six games in last year’s tournament.

Pokka has represented Finland four other times internationally including the 2012 World Junior Tournament, where he registered one goal and three assists in seven games. He also played in the U-18 World Junior Championship in 2011 and 2012, and the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2011.

Canada’s announcement comes at the conclusion of its National Junior Team selection camp, which ran from Dec. 10-13 at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary. A total of 36 players attended camp.

Canada is part of Group B along with the United States, Germany, Russia and Slovakia. Canada’s first preliminary-round game will be Dec. 26 against Germany.

Finland, which opens preliminary-round play against Latvia on Dec. 26, will compete in Group A with Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Latvia. Pokka helped Finland place fourth at last year's WJC after losing 4-0 to Canada in the bronze medal game. Finland is seeking its first medal since 2006 when it earned bronze.